The Joys of Sensory Arrays
by crimson chocolate
Summary: In which Bumblebee is subject to the worse kind of torture, the rest of the autobots are ridiculously mischievous, and Will is confused, amused, and exasperated.


Summary: In which Bumblebee is subject to the worse kind of torture, the rest of the autobots are ridiculously mischievous, and Will is confused, amused, and exasperated.

Characters: Bumblebee, Ratchet, Optimus, Ironhide, Will

Warnings: Tickle torture... :)

Ratchet walked down along the row of aircraft hangers, set on finding another being that was, according to his sensors, in the next hanger.

As he approached, he noticed that one of the large doors was slid open, suggesting occupancy. When he peered inside, he saw that both his suspicions, and sensors, were right.

Bumblebee sat atop a large metal box that was at one point a train car, his gaze away from the entrance that the medic was now striding through.

The chartreuse mech was curious as to what his comrade was doing, even more so when he registered the dimness of the smaller mech's optics- something that only occurred in a few particular situations.

Deciding that sooner- rather than later- would be a better time to find out, Ratchet moved until he was standing at Bumblebee's side, before using a servo to prod the other's shoulder.

"Oh! Ratchet!," the yellow autobot exclaimed, jumping in surprise at the other's sudden appearance. "Sorry, I didn't notice you come in..."

"So I noticed," the medic commented wryly before asking, "What were you doing with such focus that you didn't notice my approach?" The chartreuse autobot watched him closely.

Bumblebee quietly replied, "I was re-calibrating my sensory arrays."

Ratchet was slightly surprised, though it was now obvious by the sudden twitches of neuro-cables and other motor-relays that the sensors controlling his sensitivity toward all forms of contact were not completely adjusted.

"And why did you not request my assistance with such a task?" The medic's tone had a somewhat intimidating effect on the other and he shrank back briefly before explaining himself.

"I did stop by the med-bay earlier, but you were busy at the time. Besides, I don't really need your help. The process goes faster with medical assistance but it doesn't really matter."

Ratchet raised an unamused optic ridge at the smaller mech, who actually took a small step back as his processor searched for a better response.

"Really, Ratchet, it's fine! I didn't want to bother you if you were doing something else...," Bumblebee trailed off as the larger mech took a step forward, closing the distance between them. When a large servo placed itself on his shoulder- his un-calibrated sensory array sending out a myriad of signals and making him squeak- the yellow mech quickly backtracked.

"What I meant to say is- Ratchet, will you please assist me in re-calibrating my sensory arrays?" Bumblebee asked sweetly, a hopeful expression covering his face-plates.

The medic laughed warmly, with much amusement, before replying, "Of course, Bumblebee! It's my _job _to make sure your motor and neuro-systems are functioning properly."

For a moment the yellow mech was relieved that Ratchet had seemed to accept his evasive apology- until he noticed the mischievous light in the chartreuse mech's optics.

As the medic reached for him, Bumblebee realized that he was, in fact, doomed.

Optimus gave a start as a sudden scream pierced the calm afternoon atmosphere.

In less than a second, all systems were on high-alert battle-mode, ready to respond to any kind of situation.

Pinpointing the sounds to originating from one of the hangars, the blue and red mech moved quickly- more so when he realized the familiarity of the continuing shrieks.

Quickly, he darted to the hangar door, sliding it as fast as he could without rending it from its track to reveal-

Bumblebee, rolling with laughter on the floor being tickled by Ratchet, who had a highly amused grin on his face-plates as he pinned the smaller mech within his reach.

"No...NO! Ratchet STOP!" The small yellow mech was interrupted by giggles, intakes shuddering in an attempt to keep up with the mech's quickly heating circuits.

"Stop?" The medic's voice was warmer than Optimus had heard it in a long time. "But I'm trying to help you re-calibrate your sensor array! Obviously, there's something wrong with the settings."

"T-that's because-"Bumblebee squealed again with laughter as Ratchet's servos stroked lightly over his sensitive door-wings, "Y-you set them... that way!"

Optimus could not contain a chuckle, alerting the two to his presence, though the chartreuse mech did not relent in his torturous ministrations.

"Hello, Optimus." Ratchet greeted, not bothering to hide his glee.

"O-Optimus...save me!" the small yellow mech managed to vocalize between giggles. "R-Ratchet's going to t-tickle me to death-"

Bumblebee could not help but shriek again then let out a plethora of childish sniggers as the medic continued his tickling with a renewed fervor.

The large mech could not keep the smile off his face-plates as he approached the two sprawled on the floor.

"Care to join me?" Ratchet invited, as if he wasn't subjecting his smaller comrade to an abject form of torture.

"N-No!" Bumblebee looked up briefly with pleading eyes, but he was unable to hold the face as he continued to snicker. However, fate it seemed was not on the yellow mech's side as Optimus took up his one extremely rare mischievous look then knelt down beside where the smaller mech was pinned.

With one large servo, the commander leaned down and wriggled his fingers across the plating right between Bumblebee's door-wings.

Both of the larger mechs shared a grin at the resulting shriek, and continued to tickle the smallest mech with enthusiasm. This continued for a while longer until-

"What is _going on_ in here?"

Both Optimus and Ratchet paused at their ministrations and Bumblebee writhed weakly in relief on the floor, his cooling fan's buzzing noisily as his intakes shuttered and gasped.

Ironhide stood in the doorway of the hangar, Will Lennox standing a meter away from his left foot with an incredulous expression on his face.

"They started a tickle-the-Bumblebee-fest without me, that's what," the weapon specialist answered the human's question, amusement obvious on his face-plates.

Will looked up at the dark mech, still very much confused, and asked,"You guys are _ticklish?" _

"Not normally," Ratchet replied, "However, if our sensors are set to a certain calibration..."

He ran a servo lightly across 'Bee's door-wing again, the resulting squeal of vocals serving as a demonstration. The yellow mech began to squirm, attempting to get his legs out from where the medic had sat on them to pin him, his lack of success only serving to entertain the chartreuse mech more.

Will was quite amused by this revelation and movement to his right drew his gaze to Ironhide. The human recognized the placement of the mech's face-plates to represent a rather devious grin as the dark mech approached his fellow autobots.

The weapon specialist's movement did not go unnoticed by the tortured mech on the floor, as Bumblebee began to writhe with new energy.

"Noooo!" The yellow mech shrieked, much to Ironhide's amusement. Will was slightly confused by this exchange, but when the dark mech pounced upon the smaller, servos moving expertly across armor and sensitive cables, Bumblebee's protest became clear.

It was a heartwarming sight watching the three large mechs tickle torture their small, laughing companion. It was the happiest that Will could ever recall seeing them, and though it was at Bumblebee's expense, he couldn't deny it was well-deserved joy.

"'H-Hide! St-stop...-" a shriek, "I...Ratchet...really...STOP!" 'Bee's intakes constantly cycled, his cooling fans running at their highest speed. "O-Optimus...no...-" another round of giggles "- stop...STOP! My c-cooling sys-sysssteemmsssss...-"

With a sudden clank, all of Bumblebee's shrieking, laughing, and giggling stopped, and the three mechs around him froze in shock.

Abruptly, Will was alarmed, "What? What happened!"

The three mechs glanced over, and even Ratchet had the decency to look guilty.

"And what have you learned from this?" Will chided about an hour later, mild annoyance decorating his face.

As though their lecture was being given by an a superior mech rather than a small organic alien, the two mechs sitting on a bench in the med-bay flinched at his tone.

"When Bumblebee, says "stop" it's time to stop." Optimus replied dutifully, a guilty look still present on his face-plates.

Ironhide merely grumbled from where he sat on the bench next to his commander, obviously feeling embarrassed and guilty at what had happened to their youngest companion.

"It's all fun and games until the victim overheats and goes into involuntary stasis," Ratchet chimed in from where he was overlooking Bumblebee, adding some fresh coolant to his lines.

Will shot the medic a pointed look, but the mech merely grinned in response. The human brought his gaze back to Ironhide, ready to give the dark mech some sort of reprimand for his lack of response when another line from Ratchet drew his attention back.

"Look who's back to the land of the processing!"

Bumblebee turned his bright blue optics toward the sound of the voice, still disoriented from his system's sudden shutdown without the initiation of recharge protocols.

For a few moments, he lay on the berth silently, more than slightly confused. Then his processor caught up with him.

"Ratchet!" The yellow mech growled, the pout on his face removing any actual seriousness from the exclamation. The medic forced his face plates not to pull up in yet another smile, resulting in an awkward, half-hearted frown.

Optimus and Ironhide stood up from the bench and moved to stand by the berth.

"Bumblebee, I apologize," The red and blue mech apologized, wearing his guilt obviously.

"Yeah...Sorry, 'Bee," Ironhide managed, putting a large servo on the yellow mechs shoulder. The smaller mech jumped at the touch, prompting the dark mech to quickly pull away, looking actually guilty.

Bumblebee glanced at all three of the larger mechs, and their mostly guilty expressions, before he cycled his vents exasperatedly and managed to pull off the human gesture of rolling his optics.

"Ratchet, will you _please _properly re-calibrate my sensory arrays?"

All three mechs smiled at the smallest mechs unique acceptance of their apologies.

"What do you mean "properly"? Are you suggesting that I did my job wrong?" Ratchet asked playfully, running a servo quickly over the edge of a door-wing, eliciting a small giggle fit.

"Yes!" Bumblebee confirmed his opinion of Ratchet's work, but before he could continue, Ironhide prodded him in the side, resulting in another brief round of laughter.

"_Ironhide!"_ The yellow mech squeaked in indignation, turning a fake angry glare upon the weapons specialist.

Will watched yet another tickle-fest begin, his expression of disbelief quickly becoming exasperation, especially when Optimus yet again joined the fun.

"Hey, Will!" Ironhide's voice drew the human's attention to the dark mech, his face-plate turned toward the small organic even as his servos continued to elicit shrieks of laughter from the victimized Bumblebee.

"No matter how much we tickle 'Bee, he'll always forgive us!"

Will stared at him blankly for a second before he realized that the mech was finally answering the question he had asked before. The human threw his arms up in defeat, and left the autobots to their torturing, peals of laughter floating pleasantly through the air.

END

AN: I always figured a tickle fest would be fun, but they're giant robots with battle and science hardwired into their systems so where would the tickling fit? Then, it hit me. They have to have some sort of neuro-system so they can identify contact, and occasionally that should be adjusted to acclimate to a new environment or to cope with replaced parts, right? So if someone- *cough* Ratchet *cough*- were to adjust those systems in a particular way to allow physical contact to be registered as something similar to our own ticklish sensation, then viola! Ticklish robots! :)


End file.
